e-man

Okay. I know this issue has been discussed at length, and many have offered various solutions, including: (1) having the TSB performed; (2) not opening the moonroof for a few days; (3) sliding the sunshade partially or totally closed; or (4) venting the moonroof (i.e., using the tilt feature -- as opposed to sliding it open).

Today I was driving around during lunch and the moonroof was rattling like crazy. Normally I just slide the sunshade closed, but I was driving next to this BMW and he had his vented/tilted up, so I decided to do the same. Once I did, the rattles were gone -- I mean completely gone. Then I got to thinking. If the rattles only occur when the moonroof is in the closed position, and disappear when the moonroof is tilted/vented, then the rattles must be coming from where the back perimeter of the moonroof presses up against its enclosure. Anyway, to make a long story short (I know, too late), I began to look at the weather stripping around the moonroof and noticed that it was very dry (almost on the verge of cracking). I happened to have a tube of Chapstick in my pocket. You see where this is going. I got out of my car and took the Chapstick and lubricated the weather stripping around the back edge of the moonroof (and up the sides a bit too). I then closed the moonroof and drove off. Voila -- no more rattling!!!! It's never been so silent.

I don't know if all moonroof rattling is caused by dry weatherstripping, but it certainly was the case with me. If this thread helps one person who has been dealing with a rattling moonroof, I will feel that my mission in life is complete.

e-man

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Holy Cow!

Although I've gotten used to just sliding the cover forward, I would not mind if that rattle went away. I may just try this "cheap" mod.

e-man

Neo -- let me know if it works for you. Some have said that they think the rattling comes from the sunshade (and I thought that's where mine was coming from also), but as soon as I vented/titled the moonroof, it became clear that it wasn't the sunshade. Now, this won't fix that creaking/popping sound -- only the TSB will take care of that. But I think this may take care of a lot of owners' rattling issues.

e-man

jtanoyo1

Threads like this make me glad that i live in a country with nearly 100% humidity. We never have any problems with weatherstripping cracking or leather cracking or whatnot.

What we do have is severe dust problem and hp-robbing heat-soaking problem......dunno if that's any consolation....*sigh*

rominl

iTrader: (4)

man, how many threads on this topic do we have yet from you eman?

j/k, hopefully this is the final fix man

LXOGOOD

Can somebody do a GB on a box of Chapstick please.... This I have to try....

rominl

iTrader: (4)

fwiw i have some industrial lubricate i got for my old car, waterproof, etc... you name it. very good stuff. i think it would work pretty well too i guess

PHML

iTrader: (33)

wow....a real life MacGyver here in CL....glad it worked out.

NT2SHBBY

Hey eman, if I gave you two pretzel sticks and some string, you think you could make me a phone that calls internationally

XYZLexus1

After another 20 plus hours of dash disassembly (I easily have 80 hours in to noises) I have eliminated 90% of my pops. I finally got my passenger side vent out, what a PAIN. It was the source of 50% of my snap crackle pop. The vent appeard to have a recessed area on the vent for felt but there was none there, although all the other vents have felt is, now this one has felt it is silent!!!!!! I may have also found another real PIA. I could never get my center console section to quit buzzing. I disassembled, siliconed, felted, you name I did it and randomly the buzz would return. I spent no less than 10 hours and have had it out 5 to 7 times. The problem may have been the cigarrette lighter wiring. It is in plastic conduit and when I push the ashtray assembly in to reinstall in the dash the harness curls and pushes the plastic conduit up under and against the center console plastic surround. I am guessing it is this conduit touching the high frequency vibrating center console making the noise. I wrapped the harness in foam, like the other 95% of the wires in the vehicle that Lexus had wrapped and it appears to be gone. I need to give it another week to be sure.

I will attack the sunroof later. I have two issues the cover and a clicking sound which is extremely rare. If I push on the drive cable it stops so I think it is the grease in the connection but I can easily live with it for the time being.

I would easily bet anyone $100 US dollars I have the quitest Lexus GS300, LS 430 or ES330 in the Houston Metropolitian area. I am talking about interior noises such as rattles, snap crackles and pops. What started my last burst of noise dissolving energy was I decided to sell the car. Since I knew if I damaged a piece or made a new rattle it would not affect trade in value, I disassembled the whole dash. Never scratched or created any rattles. The car is fairly simple to disassemble and built like a tank.

To minimize the radom glove box noise (I already performed a full felt job to the glove box components) I got felt dots and put them opposite of the rubber stoppers. That eliminated an extremely faint sound from the lid on very rough roads. Most people would have never heard it, but if you do put some felt dots opposite of the rubber stoppes so the stoppers hit the felt instead of the plastic. You can also put them on your center console doors, so when you lean on them no noise is heard.

CinFulxgs

Is there a DIY somewhere for dash removal?
Is there a DIY for getting rid of the noises?

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

Excuse me for my ignorance but it seems like the State with the extreme heat/weather are causing rattling problems here and there??? Or is it dependent on the year the GS? I have 99 GS3 in California and don't have any rattling problems, except for typical leather noise when you're sitting on it and from sliding around. Any Californians, preferably the so-cals since weather may be milder, with rattling problems? I am fortunate not to have these issues Maybe I have the radio too loud???

XYZLexus1

Gsetek, in my case you are exactly right. 99% are thermal expansion issues. When I purchased the car in Feb and it was consistently 65f to 75f it was silent except for the sunroof cover and shift lever benzel. The majority of my noises used to happen at 4:00 pm when I got off work and the interior was 115F, once again not a problem until I turned on the AC and the frost thrower would drop it to 68F in about 5 minutes. As long as all the components were the same temperature hot or cold no snap, crackle, pop. Lexus in my opinion tolerances were too good, they should have left a little gap. Felt will solve the issue. I here the same noises (snap, crackle, pop) in other cars but no where near the frequency that I heard in mine. I counted over 50 snap crackle pops in a 1 mile drive. Now I have NONE, just the original sunroof cover rattle and hopefully i got the shift lever bezel.

My greatest sucess was the passenger side vent, It eliminated the majority. You push on my vent you hear no noises. I used to push on the glove compartment door and the passenger side vent would make a noise before I installed the felt. Not the vent but the vent housing rubbing on the vent opeining in the dash.

1) Removed glove compartment.
2) Removed the cd changer.
3) Removed everything else still could not get the duct hose off the vent. I finally got pissed and yanked the duct free and bent it out of the way. It is flexible and no damage was done. There are two phillip head screws holding the vent in. I got the lower left hand corner one out. I tried every screwdriver bit, extension, wrenches and simply could not get the upper one out. I fought for 2 hours upside down on my head. Figuring I was going to trade the car and at that point did not give a crap, I pushed in on the vent and it (thank the lord) pivoted in with the top screw still in place. I felted the opening, took my time worked the vent in, pushed the felt back in and finally got it where you can see no felt when looking at the vent from outside. I then put the duct back on.

I drove the car and it was the second happiest day of my life when it did not make a noise and still has not in over 2 weeks. The happiest day was when I sold my vet.

I disassembled the entire dash to try to get the duct off, where I really did not have to since I ended up bending it out of the way. Since I had everthing apart I felted.

If I had to do it again and have the same good luck with the vent ear not breaking off, I could do it again in 30 minutes. If the vent ear would to have broken off I would have been screwed.

Rexdr

Hi all. I'm new to the forum. I am going to purchase a GS before year end. I've been lurking for a few days now I decided to register today. I know about forum culture/etiquette (and know how to use the "search" button too), and the group of people you have here seem to be cool from what I've seen so far. So that's my intro. Anyway, for those of you who are afraid to use Chapstick, there are actual weather strip lubricant products out there. They usually come in aerosol/spary cans. I don't know any brand names, but I'm sure you can find some at your local auto part store.

e-man

You guys are too funny. I think the group buy on Chapstick is a good idea. Maybe we could pit Chapstick against Carmex and get a really good deal. I'm no marketing expert, but isn't one way to increase sales to come up with expanded uses for your product? I can see the commercial now. A CL member driving down the street in his GS with an annoyed look on his face (and chapped, bleeding lips, of course), listening to an assortment of rattles coming from the moonroof. He gets out of the car, reaches for his Chapstick, starts to apply it to his lips, but then turns it on the moonroof. He drives off in silence, bleeding lips and all.

Day two -- still no rattles.

e-man